The present invention relates to a lautering apparatus, and more particularly to means for rotating sweeping blades from a lautering position to a sweeping position and vice versa.
In brewing, filtration or lautering of the grain mash is carried out in apparatus generally referred to as a lauter tun, wort from the tun being delivered to a brewing kettle for subsequent treatment. The lauter tun generally comprises a cylindrical vessel receiving the mash and having a real bottom with a perforated false bottom located a small distance thereabove. A rotary lautering machine is located in the vessel and serves to distribute the mash and to work and loosen the grain bed, the machine comprising an upstanding drive or down hanging top drive including a vertical post carrying radial arms from which subtend vertical blades. In operation the lauter machine is lowered for lautering and is raised and subjected to controlled lowering for a grains removal operation, a series of valve controlled spent grain discharges being located at the floor of the vessel. The blades, pivotally mounted on the arms, comprise a vertical array of streamline fins with a spent grain sweeping portion located at the bottom of each blade. For the lautering operation, the blades are set with the fins and sweeping portion tangential, while for grain removal the blades are pivoted so that the bottom sweeping portion sweep the grains to the discharges on rotation of the machine. In typical known lautering machines, pivoting of the blades is achieved by lever systems, which has the disadvantage of being complicated and expensive. It is the principal object of this invention to obviate or mitigate this disadvantage.